The Cadillac DPi-V.R is a sports prototype racing car which started competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in North America in 2017. It is the manufacturer variation of Dallara P217 base, and replaces the Corvette DP. It marked Cadillac's return to sports car racing as a full constructor for the first time since the Cadillac Northstar LMP that competed in American Le Mans Series from 2000 to 2002. It was unveiled on November 30, 2016.

Across six seasons of competition, the DPi-V.R won the IMSA SportsCar Championship three times, doing so in 2017 with Wayne Taylor Racing, and in 2018 and 2021 with Action Express Racing. The DPi-V.R was one of the most successful DPi cars by the end of its time in competition, and it would be replaced by the Cadillac V-Series.R in 2023, following a change to the new Le Mans Hypercar and LMDh ruleset for sports prototypes.

Background A closed-top design, it incorporates several new mechanical and safety features not used in the previous Corvette DP car. Zylon anti-intrusion panels are built into the frame that prevent any mechanical components from coming into the chassis in the event of an accident. The Cadillac DPi-V.R has an electrical power steering system and an improved gearbox.

Competition history With the DPi regulations in place for the 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship, the Cadillac DPi-V.R officially made its first start at the 2017 24 Hours of Daytona, where it also completed its first victory courtesy of Wayne Taylor Racing and drivers Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor, Max Angelelli, and Jeff Gordon. Cadillac proceeded to take victory in the next six races; four from Wayne Taylor Racing and one from each of the two entries from Action Express Racing. Cadillac completed a dominant season by taking home the Teams', Constructors', and Drivers' championships, with all three Cadillac entries occupying the top 3 of the standings. Wayne Taylor Racing, with the Taylor brothers, took home the Teams' and Drivers' titles for Cadillac.

Cadillac carried their momentum over to the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship, winning the season-opening 2018 24 Hours of Daytona with Mustang Sampling Racing and drivers Filipe Albuquerque, João Barbosa, and Christian Fittipaldi. Eric Curran and Felipe Nasr secured the championship with Whelen Engineering Racing, marking back-to-back titles for Cadillac. Across all three entries, the DPi-V.R secured a total of 11 podiums.

The next two seasons were less fruitful for Cadillac, as the rising levels of competition began to even out the field. The DPi-V.R finished runner-up twice in the 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship and the 2020 IMSA SportsCar Championship, completing each season in 2nd overall behind Acura and Team Penske. Cadillac did continue to win the 24 Hours of Daytona, winning both the 2019 and 2020 editions, extending their record at Daytona to four consecutive wins, a streak that eventually ended in 2021, when then-recently departed Wayne Taylor Racing won the race with the Acura ARX-05 under five seconds ahead of the Ally Cadillac in 2nd.

The DPi-V.R won the series title for a third and final time in the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship with Whelen Engineering Racing, the team experiencing a late season streak of podiums and victories in the second half of the season, from Watkins Glen to Road Atlanta, to take home the championships for Cadillac. In its final season in 2022, Chip Ganassi Racing were the highest-placed Cadillac in the standings, ending their season in 3rd.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results Results in bold indicate pole position. Results in italics indicate fastest lap.

YearEntrantClassDriversRoundsPoints12345678910112017 Mustang Sampling RacingDaytona Prototype International João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi Filipe Albuquerque5AllAll1-2, 6, 10 DAY2 SEB2 LBH7 AUS3 BEL4 WGL1 MOS6 ELK6 LGA5 ATL5 284 3rd Whelen Engineering Racing Dane Cameron Eric Curran Mike Conway Seb Morris Filipe Albuquerque31AllAll1-2, 1016 DAY6 SEB3 LBH8 AUS2 BEL2 WGL7 MOS1 ELK4 LGA2 ATL2 291 2nd Wayne Taylor Racing / Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V Jordan Taylor Ricky Taylor Max Angelelli Jeff Gordon Alex Lynn Ryan Hunter-Reay10AllAll11210 DAY1 SEB1 LBH1 AUS1 BEL1 WGL6 MOS7 ELK2 LGA3 ATL9 310 1st2018 Mustang Sampling RacingDaytona Prototype International Filipe Albuquerque João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi Gabby Chaves Tristan Vautier5All1-5, 8-91-2, 6-7, 10610 DAY1 SEB10 LBH1 MOH4 BEL6 WGL6 MOS4 ELK7LGADNS ATL42496th Whelen Engineering Racing Eric Curran Felipe Nasr Mike Conway Stuart Middleton Gabby Chaves31AllAll1-2, 6110 DAY2 SEB3 LBH7 MOH8 BEL1 WGL7 MOS3 ELK3 LGA5 ATL8 277 1st Wayne Taylor Racing / Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V Jordan Taylor Renger van der Zande Ryan Hunter-Reay Renger van der Zande10AllAll1-2, 10 DAY15 SEB2 LBH3 MOH5 BEL5 WGL5 MOS2 ELK4 LGA12 ATL1 270 3rd Spirit of Daytona Racing Matt McMurry Tristan Vautier Eddie Cheever III901-2, 5-61-2, 5-61-2 DAY20 SEB12LBHMOH BEL13 WGL11MOSELKLGAATL6816th2019 Mustang Sampling RacingDaytona Prototype International Filipe Albuquerque João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi Brendon Hartley Mike Conway5AllAll126, 10 DAY7 SEB3 LBH1 MOH8 BEL6 WGL6 MOS10 ELK6 LGA5 ATL72587th Whelen Engineering Racing Pipo Derani Felipe Nasr Eric Curran31AllAll1-2, 6, 10 DAY2 SEB1 LBH6 MOH4 BEL2 WGL7 MOS4 ELK4 LGA3 ATL1 297 2nd Konica Minolta Cadillac Jordan Taylor Renger van der Zande Fernando Alonso Kamui Kobayashi Matthieu Vaxivière10AllAll112, 10 DAY1 SEB2 LBH10 MOH6 BEL9 WGL4 MOS6 ELK5 LGA4 ATL22744th Juncos Racing Will Owen René Binder Agustín Canapino Kyle Kaiser Victor Franzoni Spencer Pigot501-7, 101-2, 6, 101-21, 3-45, 710 DAY8 SEB10 LBH7 MOH9 BEL8 WGL8 MOS11ELKLGA ATL1017711th JDC-Miller MotorSports Stephen Simpson Simon Trummer Chris Miller Juan Piedrahita84AllAll1-2, 6, 101 DAY10 SEB8 LBH5 MOH7 BEL4 WGL9 MOS8 ELK9 LGA9 ATL52378th Mikhail Goikhberg Tristan Vautier Rubens Barrichello Devlin DeFrancesco Juan Piedrahita85AllAll112, 6, 10 DAY5 SEB7 LBH9 MOH10 BEL5 WGL10 MOS9 ELK8 LGA8 ATL923010th2020 Mustang Sampling Racing / JDC-Miller MotorSportsDaytona Prototype International Sébastien Bourdais João Barbosa Loïc Duval Tristan Vautier5All1-61, 7, 95, 7-9 DAY13 DAY23 SEB13 ELK4 ATL14 MOH6 ATL24 LGA7 SEB252495th JDC-Miller MotorSports Tristan Vautier Chris Miller Matheus Leist Juan Piedrahita Stephen Simpson Gabriel Aubry Scott Andrews851-4, 61-2, 4, 71, 4, 7-913, 5, 8-96-79 DAY15 DAY27 SEB18 ELK7 ATL18 MOH8 ATL28 LGA8 SEB242178th Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R Renger van der Zande Ryan Briscoe Scott Dixon Kamui Kobayashi10AllAll1, 7, 91 DAY11 DAY26 SEB12 ELK2 ATL15 MOH3 ATL21 LGA6 SEB27 264 2nd Whelen Engineering Racing Pipo Derani Felipe Nasr Filipe Albuquerque Mike Conway Gabby Chaves31All1, 3-91, 5, 712, 9 DAY17 DAY25 SEB11 ELK3 ATL13 MOH2 ATL25 LGA3 SEB262584th2021 Cadillac Chip Ganassi RacingDaytona Prototype International Renger van der Zande Kevin Magnussen Scott Dixon Earl Bamber01All1-101-3, 1111 DAY17 DAY25 SEB5 MOH5 BEL1 WGL16 WGL22 ELK3 LGA2 LBH2 ATL531634th JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing Loïc Duval Tristan Vautier Sébastien Bourdais5AllAll1-3, 6, 11 DAY13 DAY27 SEB1 MOH4 BEL5 WGL17 WGL24 ELK6 LGA6 LBH3 ATL729336th Whelen Engineering Racing Pipo Derani Felipe Nasr Mike Conway Chase Elliott31AllAll1-3, 6, 111-2 DAY11 DAY26 SEB6 MOH2 BEL2 WGL14 WGL21 ELK1 LGA3 LBH1 ATL2 3407 1st Ally Cadillac Racing Jimmie Johnson Kamui Kobayashi Simon Pagenaud Mike Rockenfeller481-3, 6, 111-3, 6, 111-3, 6, 111-2 DAY16 DAY22 SEB7MOHBEL WGL15WGL2ELKLGALBH ATL412037th2022 Cadillac RacingDaytona Prototype International Sébastien Bourdais Renger van der Zande Álex Palou Scott Dixon Ryan Hunter-Reay01AllAll1-21-2, 113 DAY15 DAY27 SEB7 LBH1 LGA6 MOH5 BEL1 WGL3 MOS1 ELK3 ATL4 3220 3rd Alex Lynn Earl Bamber Ryan Hunter-Reay Kevin Magnussen Marcus Ericsson Neel Jani02AllAll111-21-23 DAY16 DAY26 SEB1 LBH2 LGA5 MOH4 BEL3 WGL4 MOS4 ELK2 ATL531914th JDC-Miller Motorsports Tristan Vautier Richard Westbrook Loïc Duval Ben Keating5AllAll1-3, 8, 111-2 DAY12 DAY23 SEB2 LBH3 LGA4 MOH6 BEL5 WGL7 MOS5 ELK5 ATL729796th Whelen Engineering Racing Pipo Derani Tristan Nunez Mike Conway Olivier Pla31All1-61-3, 8, 117-11 DAY17 DAY24 SEB3 LBH5 LGA3 MOH3 BEL6 WGL5 MOS3 ELK6 ATL230835th Ally Cadillac Racing Kamui Kobayashi Mike Rockenfeller José María López Jimmie Johnson481-3, 8, 111-3, 8, 111-31-2, 8, 11 DAY13 DAY25 SEB6 WGL6 ATL311657thSources:

References

External links Cadillac Racing Official Website The Official Website of Cadillac